This invention relates to surgical apparatus. Particularly, but not exclusively, this invention relates to surgical apparatus for use in knee surgery and especially total knee arthroplasty.
During total knee arthroplasty, it could be beneficial to eliminate the passive deforming forces around the knee associated with soft tissue imbalance et the time of surgery, Such elimination is achieved by gradual soft tissue releases of the contracted tissues around the knee. In order to carry out this technique successfully, the surgeon has to ensure that the tension of the medial and lateral soft tissue structures of the knee is symmetrically balanced. This is done solely by estimation, which is disadvantageous since if, after surgery, the knee is imbalanced, then failure of prosthesis can result